Okay, here’s my attempt at writing a blog post, mimicking the style and tone of the example you provided, and focusing on the topic “honda 85 two stroke”:
Alright, so I got my hands on this old Honda 85 two-stroke. Thing was a mess, looked like it had been sitting in a barn for twenty years, which, let’s be honest, it probably had. But I’ve always loved these little bikes, so I figured, why not? Let’s get this thing running again.
First Look and Tearing it Down
First thing I did, obviously, was just look it over. See what I was dealing with. The tires were flat, the chain was rusted solid, and the whole thing was covered in dust and grime. I started by pulling the seat off, then the tank. Gas tank was surprisingly clean inside, which was a good sign. But the carb… oh boy, the carb.
Pulled the carb off, and it was completely gummed up. I mean, totally clogged. I’ve seen cleaner carbs pulled out of a swamp. I knew this was going to be a project.
Cleaning the Carb and Getting Spark
- So I soaked that bad boy in carb cleaner for like, a day. Seriously, just let it sit there and do its thing.
- Then I took it all apart, every little jet and screw, and cleaned everything with those tiny little wire brushes. Pain in the butt, but gotta be done.
- Reassembled the whole carb, hoping I didn’t lose any parts (miraculously, I didn’t).
Next up, spark. I pulled the plug, it was black and oily. No surprise there. Replaced it with a new one, grounded it against the engine, and kicked it over. Nothing. No spark at all.
Okay, so now I’m chasing electrical gremlins. Checked the points, they were pretty worn. Filed them down a bit, gapped them correctly (I think… I’m no expert here), and tried again. Still nothing.
I spent like, two hours messing with the wiring, checking connections, everything. Finally, I found a loose wire going to the coil. I wiggled it, and bam! We had spark! Weak, but there.
Finally Some Life
So, with a (hopefully) clean carb and a weak spark, I put everything back together. Put some fresh gas in the tank, gave it a few kicks… and nothing. Couple more kicks, and it sputtered a little. Then, a few more, and it coughed to life! Smoked like crazy, ran like crap, but it ran!
I let it idle for a while, just to get things warmed up. Then I carefully rode it around the yard. It was bogging down, hesitating, clearly not happy. But it was moving under its own power. That’s a win in my book.
More Work to Do
So, it’s not perfect. Far from it. I still need to:
- Get a new chain and sprockets.
- Fix the flat tires.
- Figure out why it’s running so rough. Probably still something with the carb, maybe timing.
- Clean the rest, and I have to paint some parts.
But I’m pretty happy that thing runs!
It’s a work in progress, but that’s half the fun, right? I’ll keep tinkering with it, and hopefully, I’ll have it ripping around the trails in no time. It’s these old bikes, they just have so much character. And there’s something satisfying about bringing them back to life.
